AcumatiCaresB2BGateway and Acumatica cloud ERP have teamed up to provide wholesale distribution businesses with the EDI & API Connectivity solution you need to meet all trading partner requirements and regulations. Sounds good, but what about the implementation process? We’ve got you covered.
As a wholesale distributor, let’s say that your Trading Partner recently mandated that you can no longer handle orders manually in order to sell your product to them. Instead, you must implement Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). By implementing EDI, all business documents exchanged between you and your Trading Partner will be done electronically and orders will be directly imported and exported within Acumatica cloud ERP through our B2BGateway EDI solution for Acumatica.
EDI sounds like it will eliminate any manual data entry, cutting down on costly mistakes, shortening up the order cycle, and providing seamless communication with your Trading Partner. But it also sounds complicated and like it’s going to be a large undertaking. With B2BGateway and Acumatica’s wholesale distribution software, you have a ready-made team to support you throughout the process.
The team approach to implementing wholesale distribution software through cloud ERP
To be honest, implementation is not as simple as flipping a switch, but with B2BGateway’s fully managed EDI & API Connectivity solutions, we help guide you through the testing process to ensure you meet your Trading Partner’s requirements and be EDI compliant. Having implemented over 25,000 fully integrated relationships over nearly 20 years, B2BGateway has just about seen it all.
So, what can you expect during the process? You’ll be assigned a dedicated team that will be with you throughout your implementation. The four-person team consists of:
- The Business Development Representative that you worked with during the sales process. While other EDI providers make the sale and move on, at B2BGateway, our Business Development Representatives remain engaged with your account throughout your entire relationship with B2BGateway. B2BGateway Business Development Representatives periodically reach out to you to check in during your implementation—and after you have been on board with B2BGateway—because we value our client’s long-term relationship.
- A Project Manager is assigned that will oversee and manage your implementation. Completing an EDI integration can be daunting. Unlike other EDI providers, you are not routed through a help desk during implementation. Your dedicated Project Manager will work with you to develop a project plan, organize resources and ensure that your implementation is completed as smoothly as possible.
- A Trading Partner Liaison is assigned to your B2BGateway team. They will communicate on your behalf with your Trading Partner to gather all requirements and facilitate testing.
- A Programmer and Data Mapping Analyst are assigned to your implementation. Assigning dedicated programmers to your account help ensure continuity and efficiency with your implementations.
Now that you have a dedicated team assigned to your account, a “Kickoff” meeting will take place that will give you an opportunity to meet your team, outline expectations and discuss the next steps. From this point on, you’ll have direct access to your Project Manager. You will also have access to your client portal where you will be able to review real time statuses of your implementations, manage your implementation and perform other actions.
By now, your Project Manager will have discussed your implementation with you and will have created a project plan that summarizes the expectations and timelines. Your Trading Partner Liaison will contact the Trading Partner and request test files. Once we receive test files, your Project Manager will work with you directly to help you test these files and request return documents to test with the Trading Partner. If you have a 3PL that ships for you, no problem. We work with dozens of 3PLs across all time zones and we can facilitate testing with them as well. Once all documents have been tested and approved by our client and their Trading Partner, the implementation moves to “Production”.
Achieving seamless EDI integration with B2BGateway and Acumatica cloud ERP is a true team effort and worth the time it takes to get there. In fact, you might be wondering how long this all takes. Since B2BGateway is not an out-of-the-box, cookie-cutter solution, there can be many scenarios that can come up during testing that can impact a timeframe. In general, we formulate timeframes based on discussions between our client and their Project Manager. B2BGateway always does its best to accommodate a client’s specific EDI and business needs. Our customized Acumatica solution is unrivaled in the EDI & API Connectivity world and is 100% built and maintained by B2BGateway developers.
Implementing B2BGateway’s Acumatica solution provides a great ROI
As the global leader in the industry, B2BGateway provides EDI solutions that are worth your investment. And just like B2BGateway, Acumatica’s solutions are customizable for your specific wholesale distribution needs. Their Acumatica Distribution Edition helps you manage your supply chain and logistical activities and provides inventory management software, order management software, purchase order software, and more—all of which integrate with your company’s financials and sales. Automating your processes and increasing customer satisfaction is possible with B2BGateway and Acumatica cloud ERP.
When you’re ready to begin sending and receiving orders via EDI, we’ll be with you every step of the way. If you would like more information on B2BGateway’s EDI & API Connectivity Solutions for Acumatica, please visit us at b2bgateway.net, contact sales@b2bgateway.net or please call us at 401-491-9595 x 5. Let’s talk.
